Fury
by 90TheGeneral09
Summary: Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy. Jaden Korr has given in to her anger and struck down Rosh Penin on Taspir III. Journeying to Korriban, she aims to begin her new life by seizing the Scepter of Ragnos from Tavion Axmis. No one, Jedi or Sith, will be allowed to stand in the way.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

* * *

The _Far Wanderer_ was a fine ship. Sturdy, dependable, easy to maintain and simple to fly. Yet it was also fast, maneuverable, and in the right hands, plenty able to make up for its aging design and limited firepower. Mostly with the fact that the Z-95, nicknamed the "Headhunter" by an early pilot of the craft whose name was long since lost to history, was essentially built more like a rock than a starfighter. It wasn't the swiftest, it wasn't the best shielded, and with a single medium laser mounted at the outer end of each wing, the Z-95 was most certainly not the best armed.

But it never broke down. Ever. No matter what you did to it, the Headhunter would keep running. The heads-up-display could be a calamitous painting of alarms and warning lights, one engine could be out and both weapons disabled, but the Z-95 would still be on its feet and moving. It just never quit.

And like all machines and droids, it did not pass judgment on its master and pilot. It did not lecture, give sanctimonious speeches about the supposed dangers of the Dark Side of the Force. It just stood by you, asking only for some care and periodic maintenance in return. Hence the _Far Wanderer_ would remain with Jaden even after she had cast off all other visible reminders of her old life. The Jedi Order garments of gray, green-blue and silver, the color of her blue lightsaber- all would go soon enough. But the Headhunter would stay.

Jaden was coming to have a whole new appreciation for the name. It was… fitting… in a way Jaden had never had the sense to realize before.

Killing Rosh had changed Jaden's life. She could tell already that even though she had killed before that moment on Taspir III, and would soon kill again, her execution of that pitiful excuse for a Padawan would always be memorable. It wasn't the first time she had killed.

But it was the first time she'd allowed herself to enjoy it.

Speaking aloud the coordinates for the jump to Korriban, Jaden sat back, let the _Far Wanderer_ 's computer and hyperdrive do some talking, and watched as the stars blurred into white lines. The Headhunter leapt into hyperspace, tearing through the blackness at incredible speed, leaving Taspir III and her old life far, far behind her.

 **XX**

The Dark Side was powerful. Rosh, stupid and weak as he had been at the end- no, as he had _always_ been, from start to finish- was right about that. Jaden could feel it coursing through her, flowing in her veins, guiding her thoughts and showing her just the start- just a tithe- of what she had been missing when she'd been a fool enough to follow the Light.

Long ago, Jaden had read in the holobooks, the Sith had been more numerous- more organized. There had been a formal training academy for Dark Jedi on Korriban, destroyed by infighting during one of the Sith Empire's many unstable periods. It had joined the other ruins dotting the planet, and become just one more of the planet's tombs- this one holding the students and instructors who had fallen there.

But before that academy had fallen, they had talked of how "Peace is a Lie". Passion was said to give strength, strength gave power, and power gave victory. The chains you were shackled with on the day you joined the Jedi Order were broken, and the Force, now permitted to flow through you in all its unrestrained glory, set you free.

Jaden hadn't understood the words back when she'd first read them. She'd actually shaken her head in dismay, wondering how anyone could get so far from the truth and think themselves so right. She hadn't understood the words then because there was nothing to understand.

But she understood the words now.

Hate was a wonderful thing. Truly. Rage, fury, hate, in their purest, most unrestricted forms, gave you a feeling of euphoria, of unlimited power in the truest possible sense of the word, that you could never know while you followed the light. The Jedi did everything they could to trick their students, to ensure the wisdom and truths, the discoveries made by the old Sith masters and the great Sith Lords of the past, were never told. They would claim anything to keep you from realizing the truth.

The Dark Side was too quick, too easy. It would 'corrupt' you somehow, even destroy you. Jaden actually clenched her hands into fists as she thought about it. It was all a lie! They just told you that so the students they raised would stay tame and passive, never capable in all their lives of realizing the true extent of their abilities. Placid and meek, following the Jedi Masters and their Code and obeying every order without question, you would never, ever learn what power really was- and what the Force, coursing through you, could really allow you to do.

"How could I not have _seen it_?"

Jaden started, surprised for a moment she'd spoken the words aloud. It was so obvious in retrospect, all of it, and it shamed Jaden to realize she'd wasted so much time- more than twenty years of her life, gone forever, stolen by the Jedi and their foolish, idiotic chanting about peace, control and order. They were pacifists, except in times of war. Teachers, except when it came to telling their students the truth. They were honest, except when they had to keep things from you because you were "too young". And every time somebody slipped up and made a mistake, and Jaden had a feeling there had been a lot of times when _that_ had happened, it was brushed off, swept under the cargo ramp, another dirty little Jedi secret. But of course, they did that for the noblest of reasons. You could be sure of that. Always for the noblest of reasons. That was the Jedi.

The reality was that by the time they let you have unrestricted access to the Jedi Archives, you would be a Jedi Master, long ago cheated out of your youth, the absolute height of your passion, drive and power. You would be docile, complacent, entirely lost to dedication to Jedi discipline, mantra and routine. You would look upon stories of the Dark Side and what it had let Force wielders, young and old, to do for millennia, and see only 'bad' things that should never have happened.

Instead of seeing men and women, younglings of both genders, who had been liberated and permitted to realize their true potential, you would see beings who had 'fallen', who had been 'lost'. Instead of the beauty, the purity, of absolutely unlimited power, you would see those who had gone too far, done too much. You would see it this way and never be able to change, because by that time, you would have become like them.

Jaden shook her head, whipping it to the right as if to snap at her ear. She might have been so tame and complacent as to want such a future once. Now, let out of the invisible cell, released from the invisible chains she'd been forced to live with all her life, Jaden knew the truth; that she would rather die than become some doddering old fool of a Jedi Master. That she would kill every Jedi until no more remained, rather than ever again be among their ranks.

 **XX**

Rosh was dead. Of this much Jaden was certain. Oh, she'd known he was still breathing- just barely- when she dropped him and went on to have that delightful, extraordinarily fun fight with Alora- also memorable as the first time she'd allowed herself to fight without restriction, without mercy, to kill in battle and gladly enjoy it.

But he had died by now beyond any doubt.

Maybe, just maybe, Rosh had lived long enough for Kyle Katarn to show up. The big hero, there to save the day, only to find one of his Padawans gone and the other dying before his eyes- maybe right there in his arms.

Slowly, very slowly, the corners of Jaden's beautiful face turned upward in a sunken, rather horrifying smile. She could just about see it now.

And she knew she wouldn't have had it any other way.

You never knew what consequences this catastrophe would have for that old soldier. Two students gone, one deserted from the ranks, the second killed by the other? Oh, that would _not_ make Kyle Katarn look good. It would not have him upright and proud at the next Academy teachers' meeting. Or whatever kind of get-togethers they did.

There was always the chance that overrated 'legend' Luke Skywalker- another old soldier, not truly old yet by any stretch but definitely getting there- would deem Kyle to have done, well, rather poorly by Academy standards. There was always the chance Skywalker would have him dismissed, fired, drummed out. Or maybe he'd feel some stupid sense of guilt, despite having no more ability to claim responsibility- _More like steal credit_ , Jaden thought- for anything the young ex-Jedi had done than one of those filthy savages running around with their gaffi sticks and stolen weapons in the Tattooine desert. If the last one was the case, Kyle would lament his actions, feel remorse and responsibility, and maybe he'd even fire himself.

Oh, the list of possibilities was endless for all it really mattered. Jaden let herself think about it freely, envision every route and option. The one she liked most was the chance that Kyle Katarn would have the nerve to follow her to Korriban. The chances of it were good, given that the Jedi Order was already landing forces there to seize control of the Valley of the Dark Lords and stop Tavion Axmis, head of the Disciples of Ragnos, from using the Scepter of Ragnos- artifact from the great Sith Lord's days as one of the finest ass-kickers in the galaxy- to bring Ragnos himself back amongst the living. Or at least as some approximation of living, able to feel, think, and use the Force.

Joining the Disciples was as unthinkable as rejoining the Jedi. What was Jaden supposed to do, trade one foolish Master for another? Bow before a Lord whose day had long since come and passed, instead of just bowing before every stupid Jedi Master who passed by?

No. Those days were over. That starship had flown.

From now on Jaden Korr bowed to no one.

As the Z-95 blasted through hyperspace, travelling fast enough to reach even the most distant stars given a little time, Jaden took in a breath, let it out, and once again smiled- this time quite pleasantly. And why not? She was happy.

Soon, she would fly down to the surface of Korriban, allowing no one to stop her from making her way to the tomb of Marka Ragnos once she got there. She would kill anyone who tried to stop her, and with Jaden now swinging that double-bladed lightsaber of hers with the Dark Side of the Force backing her up, the bodies would be hitting the ground very fast.

And upon reaching the tomb, Jaden would silence that talkative, boring Tavion and take the damn Scepter everyone had made such a business of- and then, finally, the galaxy would see what it could really do. The same would go for its new owner.

Such a great plan. And like all great plans, it had the beauty of simplicity. And that simplicity would mean that even Kyle Katarn could probably figure it out. Jaden almost giggled like a kid, looking down at the silver hilt of her lightsaber, sitting comfortably at her belt. She actually did get the giggles when she succeeded in visualizing Kyle Katarn getting his head cut off, by none other than yours truly.

 _Oh, please, by the Force let it be so. Let him follow me to the Valley of the Dark Lords_.

It had been too long since Jedi blood had watered the rocks and sand of Korriban.

 **XX**

There was a flaming Star Destroyer, none other than the Imperial-II class made legendary by its service in the Galactic Civil War, now going on a decade past, right in front of Jaden's field of vision when the _Far Wanderer_ dropped out of hyperspace.

"Nothing to it," Jaden said quietly, barely taking her eyes off the kilometer-long battleship as she powered up the Z-95's weapons and turned the shields to maximize protection of the forward half of the fighter.

Secretly, Jaden hoped the Star Destroyer neither went anywhere nor met with serious opposition all that soon. It would make quite a grand means to exit the system with once she had the Scepter of Ragnos in hand, after all. Whoever was aboard, whatever the crew was like, her captain undoubtedly swore allegiance to the Disciples of Ragnos and that tiresome, irksome Tavion.

Maybe the captain could be persuaded otherwise, shown that there were better masters to follow, once Tavion was good and dead and Jaden had the Scepter firmly in hand. If not, hey. The executive officer would probably be more cooperative- especially once his boss had been killed in front of him. Violently.

 _Oh, violence_ , Jaden thought wistfully as the Far Wanderer sped towards Korriban, and the giant, triangular mass of gray Kuat Drive Yards steel. _How I have denied thee my love before, and how I will lavish thee with it now_.

The Star Destroyer was watching for enemy capital ships, or groups of fighters. One lone Z-95 was barely worth its notice. Notice the ship did, for even though Jaden maintained a distance of several kilometers between herself and the massive vessel, it started firing with the longer-range laser batteries after a minute or two. But by that time, the _Far Wanderer_ was already heading down and away, down towards the surface of Korriban. No effort was made by the Star Destroyer to launch fighters or even keep up sustained fire while Jaden was still in range. As soon as the _Far Wanderer_ began its descent, they stopped firing. One fighter just wasn't worth very much trouble.

 **XX**

Jaden's mind was going all sorts of directions as she flew over Korriban's tan, brown, red and black surface, through an atmosphere that had almost no rainfall yearly, as there were next to no clouds. Korriban was arid, unfriendly to organic life- and what life there was hunted and killed things as small as biped organics cheerfully.

It was a pretty ugly landscape, yet this planet had held in the past- and still held now- secrets from the Dark Side's glorious past, relics and artifacts. This planet was incredibly strong in the Dark Side. Even from up here, hundreds of feet in the air, Jaden could feel it tugging at her, calling her to come down, land, stop and visit a while. It was like coming home, though she had never been here before.

This wasn't the only place Jaden had never been before. In keeping with Jedi tradition, she had been taught from the beginning to deny herself the earthly pleasures that one became aware of upon reaching adolescence. Don't think about it, don't daydream, don't ever think about what that cute Padawan down the hall might look like with his robes off- or what the two of you could get up to if given a few minutes alone.

 _Well, I'm gonna fix that_ , Jaden thought with determination as the _Far Wanderer_ 's computer picked up the homing beacon set by the first Jedi to land. It guided the fallen Jedi in to land just like it had all the more sanctimonious ones.

But something as trivial- but important- as her own physical enjoyment was going to have to wait. Jaden knew that not even half of the ideas she had for that- or anything else- could be realized until she had the Scepter of Ragnos. Until that was done Jaden was little more than a fallen Jedi. She had to take the Scepter for anything else to happen.

As Jaden brought the Z-95 down and landed, a pair of Jedi moved out from cover near the landing area. It was Clegg Alastair, a male human Jedi Knight that Jaden had interacted with a few times at the Academy, and some Rodian that Jaden didn't know. But that wasn't really a problem, was it? The hate coursing through Jaden, the hate every Dark Side wielder had felt for every Jedi for centuries and would feel for all eternity, pulsed particularly strong as she looked at the Rodian, that bug-eyed freak, and saw his lightsaber in hand.

Opening the transparasteel cockpit and jumping down unassisted, Jaden concealed the revulsion she felt at seeing one of these bug-faced creatures holding a lightsaber. She hid it just as she hid her disgust for Clegg Alastair, who was just as boring as Kyle Katarn was old. Was this _really_ the landing reception she was getting?

As Jaden walked forward and they moved to meet her halfway, Jaden found herself unsure whether it was hate she needed to conceal more, or boredom.

 **XX**

"Jaden!" Clegg exclaimed. "It's good you're here- we- we've been taking losses trying to get to the tomb of Marka Ragnos." He shook his head, dismayed. "It's been harder going than even Master Skywalker said it would be."

 _Must be pretty bad, then, eh?_ Jaden thought, resisting the urge to snigger. Ah, dead Jedi. And here Clegg was talking about it like it was a problem.

"Where's Rosh?" Clegg asked, shaking off his troubled thoughts. "I heard there was some trouble on Taspir III. Is he all right?"

"He's safe," Jaden lied, "but badly hurt. Kyle's taking care of him."

"Is that why Kyle isn't here?" Clegg was looking at her uncertainly. "I would've thought… shouldn't he have turned Rosh over to the medics and come here with you?"

"Like I said," Jaden said, a little impatience coming into her voice as much as she tried to stop it, "Rosh was badly hurt. He needs a lot of looking after."

"What happened? It seems like you're fine, at least."

"Oh, I am," Jaden said, and there was nothing but truth in that statement. She had never felt better in all her life.

"Jaden," Clegg said, his brow furrowing, "something's not right here. You said Rosh was badly hurt, but- you don't seem that concerned about it."

"He's in Kyle's hands," Jaden said. "Kyle knows what he's doing. I've got nothing to be concerned about."

"Is that right?" the Rodian asked in passable Basic, speaking for (thankfully) the first time in this cute little meeting.

Jaden shot him a look, her pulse quickening as she fought to hide her disgust, battled the urge to draw her lightsaber and kill this freakish thing on the spot. "Yeah, it is," was all she said.

Then she took a step forward, but was stopped almost immediately as Clegg put a hand out. "Jaden," he said, concern now rising towards alarm, "I can sense the Dark Side in you… and it isn't just this planet. I can't let you pass. Not until Kyle gets here. We have to sort some things out."

Jaden didn't resist his attempt to stop her. She simply stood in place, letting her gaze fall to the ground. "I _will_ pass…" she said calmly, menace rising in her voice as she spoke. "Whether you want me to or not."

Then she sent out a blast, a Force wave that hurled both Jedi away from her. They managed to stop themselves before the impact with the nearest wall or pillar would have killed them, and ignited their lightsabers just as Jaden ignited hers. From there the fight was on.

Jaden flung herself into it gladly, spinning and twirling the dual-ended blade with reckless abandon. It was barely twelve seconds before she cut off Clegg Alastair's arm. Only a second more before she cut off his head.

The Rodian Jedi, whose name Jaden had never even wanted to know, lasted a full minute and a half before Jaden shoved him against a pillar with a Force wave, then impaled him on it with her lightsaber.

Jaden felt it as it had happened both times- the rush of life as the enemy was cut down. As these uppity Jedi were brought down by someone who had just recently discovered what power actually was. She was breathing hard, but not just from the fight. It was the excitement of fighting, the rush of killing, the joy of hate.

The fallen Jedi looked at the dead bodies, and heard the sound of fighting, of lightsabers crashing together as Disciples and Jedi battled for control of the catacombs leading to the Valley of the Dark Lords. Battle, beckoning yet again. There were more bodies to add to the count.

There was a Scepter to take, to wrest out of the hands of Tavion. It was about time the Jedi learned some humility, the Disciples learned they were following the wrong idol, and the Scepter found its way into the hands of someone who would actually use it for what it was meant for. Tavion talked too much and did too little.

Once Jaden had the Scepter, the possibilities were endless. The sooner she had it, the better. Not even Kyle would be able to get in the way anymore after that. There was no sense waiting around, not with a prize like that waiting.

Igniting her lightsaber once again, Jaden headed for the steps leading down below. She smiled. This was going to be fun.

 **XX**

It was over a kilometer- two, easily- from the landing site to the Valley of the Dark Lords. As Jaden had suspected, the Jedi Order and the Disciples of Ragnos were both out in force, engaged in heavy fighting throughout the catacombs and tombs of lesser Sith warriors and loyal servants. The Disciples attacked Jaden immediately, as they freely attacked anyone or anything not wearing Stormtrooper white or wielding a red lightsaber.

Jaden would probably get to that soon enough, but part of her wanted to keep the blue. It might be… useful… when it was convenient to pose as a Jedi. The typical non-Force sensitive had never been very good at distinguishing the two. And at this early point in her new life, as her efforts to break free of the Jedi shackles and realize her full potential were only just beginning, posing as the member of the Order she had once been might come in handy.

It certainly did as Jaden battled her way through the tombs. Letting the Dark Side flow freely through her, Jaden killed the Disciples of Ragnos swiftly and painfully, her heart singing with joy each time she broke a neck with a Force push, each time she severed an arm with her whirling dual-bladed lightsaber and heard a Disciple scream like a child. But the best of all by far were the Jedi. Some of them, the more wary and adept ones, the veterans, noticed something 'off' about Jaden as she tried to greet them as a friend. Those Jedi had to be killed quickly. And of course anytime Jaden did that, the younger Jedi, the Padawans and newly-promoted Jedi Knights (like she had once been) who were nearby, noticed and had to be killed as well.

But other times, Jaden encountered a lone Jedi, or two. Sometimes they would be the only ones n the room to begin with, and other times they were the only ones left once the dust settled. Jaden leapt into the fray as if to save them, calling out words of encouragement to the Jedi. She would fight whoever they were fighting, act selflessly to preserve the lives of the Jedi in the room or hallway. She even added an extra special touch to the delightful deception, calling on the Disciples she battled in front of these Jedi to surrender. None did, which was just as well, because if they had Jaden would have killed them anyway.

And then, when the latest small battle was won, and the Jedi around her let down their guard, Jaden re-ignited her lightsaber and struck them down. Some turned instinctively at the sound of the weapon activating, whirling to get a look at the unseen enemy Jaden had sighted. Their glimpse of that unseen enemy was the last thing they ever saw. Whether she took both sides on at once or fought one and then cut down the other unawares, Jaden exulted in her victories. The Force flowed through her like a swift, rushing river, grown from the smallest of brooks. It pulsed stronger every time she flung someone through the air using the Force, every time she blasted deadly, agonizing lightning from her fingertips. Every time she killed, Jaden could feel herself growing stronger. Every time she killed, she felt more in tune with the Dark Side, gateway to the truly unlimited potential for power offered by the Force.

She killed many times on her way to the Valley of the Dark Lords.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

* * *

The Valley had stood more or less the same for close to 4,000 years, and given Korriban's arid climate and minimal tectonic movement, the thousands of tons of rock and carved stone of each tomb had lain relatively untouched since the collapse of the Sith Academy that had operated so close to here, during the Jedi Civil War. The tombs themselves had been looted thoroughly by that generation of Sith, their relics and artifacts of Dark power scattered across the galaxy. Some of them doubtless waited on some distant world, anticipating being found by another worthy owner.

Naga Sadow, Ajunta Pall, Tulak Hord, Marka Ragnos. Four of the greatest Dark Lords of the Sith who ever lived, all of them buried here. Age and careless, clumsy efforts at forcing entry all those centuries past had caused some of the tombs interior ceilings or walls to collapse, or blocked access to the entrances. In fact, as Jaden gazed around the Valley as she emerged, blinking, into the open, she noticed just from a casual glance that only Marka Ragnos' tomb was fully cleared and accessible. Excavation efforts had not yet been turned to the others.

And with the presence of both the Jedi and of Jaden Korr, the chances of the Disciples of Ragnos doing that now were not especially good.

Jaden snickered, enjoying the understatement. Nobody's chances of doing anything were especially good around here. Nobody's but hers.

The Valley was a battleground just as the tombs had been, but fewer of the Jedi had made it this far, and they and the Disciples of Ragnos were spread out far and wide, blades of plasma flashing brilliant white before fading back to bright red, purple, yellow, green and blue. Here and there teams of Stormtroopers, competent and fearless if completely outmatched, attempted to add their weapons to the fray. Some even succeeded in injuring or killing a Jedi, but not many.

As fun as it would be to engage in each and every fight happening out here, Jaden had a growing sense that time was short. Maybe Kyle Katarn was coming here, aiming to join the battle and stop his fallen apprentice both. Maybe he'd brought Luke Skywalker with him. Or maybe, and this one Jaden thought amusing but unlikely, Rosh's death had pushed Kyle over the edge and he was coming here for revenge.

Regardless, whether or not Kyle or Luke managed to catch up with Jaden before she left Korriban, it would be far better if she got to Tavion and the Scepter first. If she didn't, their chances of interfering successfully would be, admittedly, higher.

If, by the time either of them showed up, Jaden held the Scepter of Ragnos, though…

The thought of her prospects in a fight then made Jaden's beautiful face break out into a sweet, heart-warming smile. She sprinted out and away from the catacombs exit, doing her best to keep far away from the small groups fiercely engaged in fighting. A few members of each side got in her way, and were dealt with. But altogether Jaden crossed the Valley of the Dark Lords and was headed up the steps to the Tomb of Marka Ragnos in really no time at all.

 **XX**

The Disciples of Ragnos had fought hard, and given much, to get this far. They were so close to the end, so near to the goal they had all sworn themselves to live or die to achieve, that Jaden could tell even with a casual sensing through the Force that every member of the Disciples was fighting this out to the death. Awaiting her in the cavernous hallway that led deeper into the tomb, to the room where Ragnos was actually buried, were the most dedicated and fanatical soldiers of the cause that were left. They were Tavion Axmis' best and most loyal remaining warriors, and they moved in eagerly, igniting their red-bladed lightsabers, when they saw Jaden.

But just as they began to move towards her, Jaden was struck for the first time by how unbearably, scorchingly hot it was. The high temperature was explained easily by the rich orange glow coming up from the depths to either side of the stone walkway. An open lava flow ran under the stone, making even this giant room, with its ceiling over a hundred feet up, seem as blazingly hot as the smallest oven.

Jaden started to laugh as she realized how ridiculously close these bodyguards were to the edge of the stone bridge. She was still laughing as they broke into a run, sprinting towards her, perhaps angered further by her mocking laughter. Jaden picked up the first, and with a powerful, roaring blast of the Force, hurled him screaming over the side. The other barely had time to notice this before Jaden threw him over the side too. The screams as those men fell, the agonized shrieks they made as they twisted and writhed before the lava consumed them and they knew no more, brought euphoric happiness to Jaden's very soul.

As she strode towards the entrance to the tomb itself, Jaden reflected again on how much she had changed, how far she had come, and how better she was for the journey. The Dark Side was alive in this place; Jaden could feel its power. How had she ever been blind to how much more it offered you than the slow, tame, 'safe' path of the Light?

How had she never known?

Ah, well. It didn't really matter now. Jaden was still young, and now, with the power of the Dark Side of the Force coursing through her, anything was possible. Maybe she would be the one to uncover powers yet untapped by every Sith of the past 10,000 years- every Sith who'd ever lived in history- and find the key to everything every Dark Side user had ever desired. Perhaps she would one day transcend mortality itself, her power grown to heights even she couldn't imagine.

Anything was possible.

With that thought, Jaden reached the towering doors of the tomb. They stood open, as if awaiting her arrival. Inside, a beam of brilliant light shot out from the Scepter of Ragnos, aimed towards a heroic-size statue of its former master.

Tavion, trying to resurrect that old relic of history with all that Dark Side energy gathered up in the Scepter.

Jaden grinned, glad she hadn't arrived too late, or too early. Not so early that she couldn't have the fun of interrupting Tavion in the middle of the resurrection, and not so late that it had actually happened.

And to top it off, Jaden could already tell it was too late for Kyle to get in the way. He was coming, sure, headed for this very place- she could sense that. But her timing was such that he would be too late to stop her.

Perfect.

 **XX**

"Tavion!" an angry, commanding voice barked. "Give me the Scepter!"

Tavion Axmis, leader of the Disciples of Ragnos, turned her head to look over her shoulder, letting the Scepter go silent for the moment. That voice was familiar…

"Ah," she said, catching sight of who it was, "Kyle's good student." Then she looked at Jaden differently, as if really noticing her for the first time. "Or is it? I sense the Dark Side in you. Are you here to witness the resurrection?"

"No," Jaden Korr denied flatly, striding down the steps and across the open floor of the tomb. "I'm here to kill you; something my old Master couldn't do."

"But why?" Tavion asked curiously, genuinely puzzled. "Think about it. What need is there for that? With Marka Ragnos reborn, the Jedi won't stand a chance. They will be wiped out, as they should be, and we can both serve him as he rules the galaxy!"

The tall, slender blonde, this former Jedi glowing like a blazing torch when sensed through the Force, was stern and unsmiling. Hate had gotten the better of her in a truly spectacular way, and Tavion was startled at how powerfully unbridled rage was running through the woman coming towards her. This was _not_ Kyle's good student anymore. No, indeed.

But would she go for Tavion's sales pitch? It would be quite useful to have someone so strong in the Force on her side- if she was willing to make an alliance.

Any possibility of that ended when Jaden Korr spat contemptuously, "I will no longer 'serve' anyone, least of all some dusty old has-been who had his chance long ago! I will have the Scepter and its power for myself!" The blonde fallen Jedi reached to her belt, whipped out her lightsaber and ignited both blades. "Now, _give it to me_!"

Tavion let her own anger course freely through her in response, letting go of any respect or interest in alliance she'd had with Jaden Korr. "Impudent whelp!" she snarled, activating her own single-blade red lightsaber in one hand, still holding the Scepter of Ragnos in the other. This little fallen Jedi would find out soon enough what a big mistake she'd made. "I will _enjoy_ slaying you!"

The two women sprang forward, each growling and snarling hungrily. Their blades crashed together in a flash of brilliant fire.

 **XX**

Tavion Axmis, leader of the Disciples of Ragnos, now, one of the last of the Disciples of Ragnos. All their losses were meaningless, however; the dead were as useless as Tattooine sand. The only thing that mattered was victory- resurrecting one of the greatest Dark Lords of the Sith to ever live and swearing allegiance to him as he laid waste to the Jedi all across the galaxy. It would bring about the glorious new age that deposed Emperor Palpatine, better known among the Dark Side faithful as Darth Sidious, had promised so eloquently, begun so brilliantly, and then completely failed to deliver.

And now the Disciples were closer than they had ever been to fulfilling their goal, and it was not a Jedi who stood in the way. It wasn't that sanctimonious idiot Luke Skywalker; it wasn't his equally tiresome crony Kyle Katarn.

It was someone just like her. Recently converted, maybe. But a Dark Jedi all the same. Perhaps aspiring to the title of "Sith". A fellow user of the Dark Side of the Force.

That was who stood in the way.

Tavion was so consumed with outrage, so eaten up by fury at having her generous offer rejected, that she threw herself into the fight with an intensity she had never known before. Firing deadly beams of pure Force energy with the Scepter, and taking equally lethal swings with her lightsaber, Tavion Axmis fought with every ounce of herself in what she soon realized was the fight of her life.

Win or lose.

Winner take all.

The young woman facing Tavion was stronger than she had ever been as a Jedi, and by the _Force_ did she know it. Confidence radiated outward from her as strongly as did the Dark Side. More, even. As they battled back and forth across the meticulously set, multi-ton blocks of stone that formed the tomb's floor, fighting before the giant statue of Ragnos himself, Tavion could sense no fear from her opponent at all. No hesitation, no inner weakness or regret. No softness, no sentiment. Just purpose and will.

Jaden Korr was an incredibly skilled sword-fighter for someone as young as she was. Her hate made her stronger, gave her extra agility and drive. Tavion met that unrestrained hate with hate of her own, but continued to be startled by the intensity of the Dark Side in Jaden. She had fallen far, very far, and had done so stunningly fast. Molten durasteel burned in her eyes as she slammed her blade down again and again, whirled and brought both blades to bear countless times. Tavion parried, blocked, counterattacked and launched assaults that would have blinded and destroyed lesser opponents.

She wasn't facing one of those lesser opponents.

A roaring wave of Force energy came thundering towards Tavion; she was hurled backward, just managing to wrest herself free before she would have been dashed to pieces against one of the four massive, flame-topped pillars set in a perfect square around the tomb.

As the battle went on, the two Dark Jedi using all their hate, all their rage, all their contempt for anyone who dared get in their way, Tavion reached an alarming realization. Most of the opponents she fought would have been sweating by now, figuratively or literally. Even Jaden Korr herself had put up a game but disappointing fight on Vjun. But this time, Jaden just kept on coming, those eyes of hers glowing with rage. She didn't speak once, never stopped to taunt or mock Tavion. She just attacked, slamming her blue Jedi Guardian's blade against Tavion's red again and again, seeming to hit just a little harder every time.

The blocks were getting harder to do. Parries seemed to come just a half-second away from being too late. And even the endless supply of rage-fuelled energy granted by the Dark Side seemed to be failing Tavion here.

When she barely escaped getting her right leg cut off just above the knee by a sudden, blindingly-fast low attack by Jaden's whirling dual-ended blade, then- for the first time since she'd lost to Kyle Katarn- it dawned on Tavion with such obviousness that she couldn't even hope to ignore it.

 _I'm losing_.

As if on cue, as if sensing Tavion's innermost thoughts, her slowly-emerging fears as they fought, Jaden Korr renewed her assault. Far from slowing down or tiring out, she seemed to draw strength from the fighting, gain energy the longer the battle went on. It was as if she was feeding off Tavion's own rage, using it and adding it to her own. Jaden Korr had silently called Tavion's bluff, and was the stronger.

Tavion used the Scepter for all it was worth, gouging huge piles of rock out of the walls and floor of the tomb as she attempted to blast Jaden Korr into oblivion. Lithe and with a dancer's effortless grace, the blonde Dark Jedi leapt aside each time, using Tavion's momentary distraction from primary use of her lightsaber to launch a new assault.

In every exchange, Tavion found herself beginning to give ground. She threw herself into the fight with renewed determination, verbally taunting and mocking Jaden with everything she could think of, but none of it seemed to even register. Those burning orbs of hate that had once been eyes, scorching whatever they set upon, did not care at all what verbal jabs Tavion Axmis made.

None of the things she said even seemed to be heard by her opponent at all.

And just as Tavion was beginning to wonder what else she was even supposed to do, another roaring wave of the Force was flung at her. This time, it caught her dead-center, and Tavion was flung against one of the stone pillars. Her right hand smacked against the rock painfully, and the Force pried her fingers open in that weakened moment, tore the Scepter of Ragnos from her hand, and flung it away.

A second wave slammed into her, and this time Tavion's lightsaber was torn free. It went sailing towards Jaden, who spun her blade at the right moment and cut Tavion's weapon in two.

Exhausted, defeated and completely out of ideas, Tavion fell to her knees, then had to put out her hands to keep from falling down on her face.

Jaden Korr stood above her, gazing down in silence.

It was all over now.

 **XX**

Jaden stood there, feeling the blood rage of the fight coursing through her, the fiery hate that was everywhere in this tomb making her feel more in tune with the Dark Side than she'd ever been with the light. She stood there, looking down at Tavion.

The leader of the Disciples of Ragnos did not even try to argue with her now. She knew she was done. Her whole grand plan was through. Finished. She didn't even look up, but stayed there on all fours, and said in a strained, weakened voice, "I will not cower… as I did before Katarn. Finish it. Kill me."

For the first time since she'd turned, the first time since she'd killed Rosh Penin, Jaden had an opponent completely at her mercy.

The Jedi did not believe in killing helpless opponents. A Jedi would never, ever kill an enemy who could not fight back, whose fate was entirely in their hands. A Jedi would never do what Tavion Axmis was actually inviting Jaden to do.

Jaden Korr was not a Jedi.

Drawing her lightsaber back, Jaden swung it down in a swift, clean arc. It burned into Tavion's torso just below the neck, first severing her spine, cutting through tissue until the plasma reached Tavion's heart. She managed a brief cry of pain before the end. That was all.

Just over there, to the left, at the feet of Ragnos himself, was his Scepter. A powerful weapon of the Dark Side, so powerful it could make Dark Jedi out of people who had never even felt the Force before. Jaden suddenly imagined herself as a powerful warlord, a Sith Lord with countless forces at her command… and at the core of her army, a legion of Dark Jedi, trained by and loyal to her alone. Standing before a horde of Sith warriors at an ancient temple of white and gray stone on an unknown world, Jaden saw the Sith Empire reborn. Stronger than the Galactic Empire had ever been, even at its height, ready to set out to reconquer the galaxy and finish those tiresome Jedi once and for all at her command.

Jaden Korr, standing at the apex of it all, undisputed ruler of everything in her sight, everything on this world of oceans and sand she had never seen before yet somehow knew so well… Jaden Korr, master of the Dark Side, Empress of the Sith Empire.

To call it glorious would be to do insult to what Jaden saw. "Glorious" was not even remotely adequate. But it would do. Perhaps when the Jedi were gone, when the galaxy waited with bated breath for Jaden's every command, she would think of a better word for it. Until then…

It lasted for just a few moments, but it was so intense, so real, that Jaden gasped in surprise upon seeing the Tomb of Marka Ragnos before her again. Shaking off the lapse in concentration, she reached down to pick up the Scepter. Grand visions or not, it was what she had come here for. Time to grab the flaming thing and get out of-

"Jaden, stop!"

 _Oh, by the_ Force-

Jaden snapped her head up, inches away from touching the Scepter of Ragnos. She knew that voice. And when she looked and saw the intruder, she knew that face. She'd known he would be here. He was too preachy to have the sense just to stay out of the way. It was the one she'd rather hoped would be too stupid not to come after her, hoping to 'save' someone who had merely been set free.

Kyle Katarn.

"Don't get in my way, Kyle!" Jaden barked in warning, drawing herself up to her full height and glaring at him.

But Kyle came onward, walking towards her, speaking evenly but urgently. "Jaden, I know you're angry, but it's not too late to renounce the Dark Side."

Jaden laughed. She laughed right in his face. Genuinely amused, she just half-shrugged and replied, "Who says I want to? You?"

"Listen to me, Jaden!" Kyle insisted. "Tavion and her cult have been stopped! Ragnos has no chance of coming back now; we can end this _here_!"

"Oh, noo." Jaden smiled, shaking her head. "This is _just_ the beginning."

But Kyle Katarn remained calm, his expression immovable. Only his voice showed the urgency and worry he was feeling.

"Jaden, the lure of the Dark Side is strong, but it will ultimately destroy you!"

"Liar!"

"Fight it, Jaden!" Kyle urged, still firmly in control of himself despite the storm of conflicting emotions inside. "Rosh resisted it; you can, too!"

"Rosh was _weak_!" Jaden spat contemptuously. "He was too afraid to grasp the true power of the Dark Side!" Her voice rose swiftly to a shout. "I did you a _favor_ when I killed him, but you are too stupid to know a good thing when you are in its grasp!"

"Are you _listening_ to yourself, Jaden?" Kyle asked in shock. "Please _listen_ to me and not to what the Dark Side is making you say! Rosh is dead because you let your anger get out of control. Don't make a bad thing worse by letting the Dark Side drive you to commit blacker crimes!"

Rage was rolling off Jaden in waves. Seen through the Force, she burned like a fusion torch. " _What crimes_?" Jaden demanded, screaming now. "My only _crime_ was being born with the gifts _the Force_ gave me! My only _crime_ was realizing how hard the Jedi work to make me a pawn in their 'noble crusades'!"

Kyle Katarn, in that moment, realized they were seconds away from a fight.

But still he tried to talk, saying in a strained, dreading voice, "I can't let you do this, Jaden…"

"Then _stop_ me, _Master_!"

With those words, Jaden bowed sarcastically… and she also ignited her lightsaber.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

* * *

Kyle Katarn moved to block as Jaden sprang forward, hurling herself at him. Using all his knowledge, all his ability to sense things through the Force, he attempted to search Jaden as they fought, blades whirring and flashing dozens of times in the span of seconds.

He was horrified by what he sensed as much as he was by what he saw.

Jaden Korr had fallen farther, faster, than any young Jedi Kyle had ever known. Hate coursed through her as intensely and intimately as her own blood did. She hadn't just killed Rosh, either; it hit Kyle all at once that a great many of the bodies he had found on the way here had been killed in ways that indicated Jaden Korr's style as clearly as any maker's seal did. Someone uneducated in the art of lightsaber fighting would have been unable to tell, but Kyle could. Someone particularly able, someone particularly driven and fearless, had battled their way through Disciples of Ragnos and Jedi alike, leaving well over a dozen dead behind them.

It seemed he had found the responsible one beyond any doubt now.

Jaden had no inhibitions, no hesitation. The Force was a howling gale in and around her, and horror dawned in Kyle Katarn as he realized how intensely Jaden was trying to kill him. She fought with brute-force tactics, slamming her blade into his over and over with seemingly inexhaustible strength. Kyle gave ground in every exchange, unwilling- unable- to strike any blow against Jaden in anger.

She was his student. One of the best learners of the Force that he'd ever encountered, and he had known some time ago that no matter many more Jedi he went on to train, Jaden Korr would always remain one of his shining stars. She would always be one of his greatest sources of pride.

And here she was, fighting with every ounce of her strength, using feints, blocks, parries, kicks and counterattacks that Kyle had taught her personally. She had indeed been paying attention every time any of the Masters had instructed her, just as he had always believed. She had indeed taken her lessons to heart.

Lessons about courage, determination, about never doing anything by half-measures. Never going just half-way. Being ready to give it all in a fight.

Jaden was a better fighter than half the Jedi sent here, and she had proved it when she killed so many of them. The lessons Kyle had worked so hard to impart to her were now being used in action against him. Jaden's eyes burned with rage, and her grace and beauty did all the more to give her the image of an angel- an angel of hate, of destruction, of death.

Things she and Kyle had talked about with shared dislike and dismay many times.

"Why, Jaden?" Kyle asked, not even bothering to hide the sadness in his voice.

Jaden responded by reaching out and doing her damndest to choke him to death with the Force. Kyle was strong enough that he resisted it, but the sheer force of the attack, its brutish, intensely deliberate nature, alarmed him even so.

"Stop this, Jaden! Stop!" Kyle shouted, but Jaden just fought even harder, seemingly spurred on to greater heights of anger. She also didn't say a thing.

Kyle gradually allowed himself to get more and more into the fight. He still remained calm and serene at heart, or tried to- he felt a storm attempting to assail his spirit every second. Hate, begging him to let it out, just as Jaden had done. Fear, urging him to get out of there now, before Jaden did the Force only knew what to him. Kyle Katarn fought harder in response to Jaden's brutal, relentless attacks. He let himself fight back, not just defend himself, because it was dawning on him that merely blocking against Jaden was not a good way to stay alive.

And the whole time, Kyle wondered where it had all gone so wrong.

Jaden had crossed the galaxy as she carried out missions on behalf of the Jedi Order. She had fought beside Kyle with the brilliant ability and serene purity of heart that was a timeless hallmark of the best Jedi Knights. Other times, sometimes planned and others in circumstances that were forced upon herself and Kyle, Jaden had fought alone. There were many ordinary people, just trying to get by, who owed life and livelihood alike to Jaden Korr.

From Tattooine to Vjun, from Hoth to Blenjeel, from Corellia to Taspir III, Jaden Korr had battled selflessly when she had to, negotiated tirelessly whenever she got the chance to. Above all, she had valued every life immensely, no matter the species or creed. When she had killed, she had done so reluctantly, and Kyle could remember vividly how bothered she was by it the first time she'd taken the life of a living being.

Now she was swiftly turning into someone Kyle Katarn barely recognized at all. The face, the physical form, was unchanged, but that was all that had stayed the same.

How had someone this selfless become someone so obsessed with their own corrupted interests? How had someone who battled so fiercely and bravely for the Light now sworn such deep-running allegiance to the Dark?

Kyle pondered on all this even as he fought tooth-and-nail with Jaden, battling over every inch of ground. Jaden was breathing hard, but barely slowing down a bit. She continued to say nothing, merely attacking over and over, swatting aside Kyle's attacks with every ounce of her strength and then resuming her own assault.

It was all up to the will of the Force, in the end. In the course of the more than 10,000-year history of the Jedi, hundreds, even thousands, of Jedi had fallen. Sometimes even Masters fell, as had Dooku.

Now, Jaden Korr, Jedi Knight, had joined their number.

Her story was only a few chapters in, still just beginning to be written. But if this hate coursing through her now was never removed… Kyle found himself envisioning the names of the Lost Jedi, listed meticulously at the Archives at the restored Jedi Temple on Coruscant.

He saw Jaden Korr's name among them.

 _I won't let it happen_ , he vowed, fighting that much harder as his own student tried her best to kill him. _I can't. I couldn't bear it_.

But Obi-Wan Kenobi had doubtless felt the same thing as he battled a fallen Anakin Skywalker on Mustafar all those years ago, at the end of the Clone Wars. Unable to kill his partner and apprentice, Kenobi had spared him… only to be killed by Darth Vader several years later, on one of the countless interior decks of the first Death Star.

Was that how it would end this time, for this Master and this apprentice? There was no way of knowing.

Kyle Katarn came to one irrefutable realization as they fought back and forth across the floor of the tomb, however.

He could not kill Jaden.

As if picking that thought from his mind, Jaden paused and said with mock courtesy, another mocking bow, "You're holding back, _Master_. Are you waiting to see if I'll want to _talk_? Trying to see if there's a way to _save_ me?"

"I can see I've failed you, Jaden," Kyle said sadly. "I _have_ failed you. Truly. I'm sorry."

Jaden shook her head slowly, staring at him with total contempt as they began to circle each other. "Jedi don't know when to just shut up and bow, do they?"

"Jedi don't bow to the Dark Side, Jaden. You know that as well as I do," Kyle said firmly. After a moment, he let his voice soften. "But I have respect for the woman you were." He sighed. "And for the woman you should've been."

Jaden roared and flew at him, using both the Force and her body to crash Kyle back against the wall behind him. Her hands seized Kyle's wrists with impossible strength, forcing his arms wide. "I am so _sick_ of your _lectures_!"

Dark power bore down with her grip.

Kyle felt the bones of his forearms bending, beginning to feather toward the greenstick fractures that would come before the final breaks.

 _Oh_ , he thought, _this is bad_.

XX

The old man was almost finished.

Jaden pressed forward eagerly, wanting to see her old Master's bones break. She wanted to hear it. Then, when Kyle Katarn could no longer so much as lift his lightsaber, when he was as helpless and at Jaden's mercy as Tavion had been only minutes ago, Jaden would give him the fate he deserved.

The same one she'd given to Tavion.

And to Rosh.

And to everyone who had tried to stop her from getting here once she'd landed on Korriban.

"Any _regrets_ , Kyle?" Jaden taunted, exulting in her victory. "Any last words before you say hello to _Rosh_ for me?"

"Yeah," Kyle said with surprising calm. "Are my boots brown or black? I swear, it's so close I can't tell."

 _What in the name of-?_

 _Oh_ , Jaden thought, _he's finally_ _lost it. 'Gone round the bend', as they liked to say on Coruscant_.

Just as Jaden was processing that, though, Kyle Katarn brought one knee up and kicked her hard in the chest. An instant later he gave her a tremendous shove through the Force, close to the kind of weight held by an X-Wing fighter. Taken by surprise, Jaden sailed through the air, crashing down on her back and sliding a few feet until she came to a stop by the Scepter of Ragnos. Both of them had more or less forgotten it as they fought.

Jaden sprang up, grabbed the Scepter.

For the first time since the fight had started, she realized how hard she was breathing. Strands of her hair hung limp and damp; sweat flowed freely down her face. Tired. She was getting _tired_! And here came her old Master, striding forward as if he were making his way through the halls of the Academy on Yavin IV rather than through the tomb of an ancient Sith Lord. His strength, somehow, was barely tapped in comparison. How?

The answer hit Jaden at once.

 _He's been making me wear myself out_!

Well, for today that might work. It had. But tomorrow Jaden would be too strong to run out of energy so easily, and the next day stronger still.

But she wasn't finished yet.

"Jaden-"

The former Jedi Knight swung the Scepter of Ragnos to bear and let Kyle have it. He was just a second too slow in bringing his lightsaber up to meet it, and took it full in the chest. A hastily-generated Force shield kept Kyle from coming to superficial harm, but he couldn't block the pressure that slammed into him. The Jedi Master sailed several feet through the air before landing hard on his back.

Without hesitation, Jaden raised the Scepter and fired it at the ceiling; thousands of years old, it was only so stable and promptly gave way under the onslaught of pure Force energy. Forty tons of stone broke loose from the ceiling and fell, and Kyle Katarn was buried under the rockpile.

Maybe he was still alive under there.

But she doubted it.

Jaden was eager to get out of here and get on with her new life. She'd wasted enough time on this. She was exhausted, and alarmed that was even possible. There was also the fact that someone else might come along and cause trouble if she stuck around much longer. Kyle probably had made arrangements to have help coming behind him, just in case.

She turned and fired a beam from the Scepter, blowing a gaping, jagged hole in the wall to her right. Outside, the Valley of the Dark Lords beckoned. Jaden made a Force-boosted jump up to the ledge, then outside and into the Valley. She vanished from sight in seconds, sprinting for the catacombs.

From there she never stopped running. Through the seemingly-endless halls and catacombs, down one passageway and up another, through lesser tombs where the most worthy servants of the great Sith Lords had lain in eternal slumber for thousands of years. Jaden ran, and when she broke into a sprint she knew she was nearing the landing site; the stairs, going up and up for what seemed like forever, lay ahead.

Jaden kept right on running as she got to the top, shot out to her starfighter, and used the Force to spring her up and onto the side of the _Far Wanderer_. With a simple wave of the Force, Jaden swung the cockpit glass back. She dropped down, strapped herself in, slid the cockpit shut again and started flipping switches and pressing a few buttons, listening as the low whine of the Z-95's engines grew into a roar, getting ready for takeoff.

Only when the Headhunter lifted into the air and shot off into the sky, climbing vertically as it screamed for the stars- only then did Jaden let herself let a breath out, and relax.

But as she escaped Korriban's atmosphere and saw the kilometer long, steel-gray Star Destroyer ahead, Jaden realized it was not time to rest yet after all.

After all, that ship was doubtless awaiting the triumphant return of the wielder of the Scepter of Ragnos. They'd be getting just that when Jaden landed in the ship's hangar bay.

 **XX**

An Imperial II-Class Star Destroyer, the iconic durasteel-gray Imperial Navy warship, remained one of the most deadly and feared ships in known space even fourteen years after the Empire's spectacular defeat at the Battle of Yavin. At almost exactly one kilometer from bow to stern, it was visibly bristling with everything from dozens of point defense laser turrets capable of chewing up any fighter that gets too close to heavy laser batteries capable of chewing up the surface of a planet.

In the hangar on the ship's underside, a capacity of more than sixty TIE craft- Bombers, Fighters, Interceptors, along with an assortment of shuttles and support craft. And in the labyrinthine passageways running all over the many decks of the ship, a Star Destroyer housed 10,000 Stormtroopers. Trained to fight aboard any ship, on any world, these men of the Stormtrooper Corps, like the men (and sometimes women) they served alongside in the Navy, were suddenly left with nothing to do and no way to get paid when the Emperor and Darth Vader died all at once.

The Remnant continued to fight itself nearly as much as it did against the still-young New Republic. Generals and admirals turned warlord fought for control, strutted and puffed out their chests anytime they got together. The fact was that none of them were fit to rule though they all proclaimed it.

Someone more worthy than all of them was now standing on the bridge of the _Ravager_ , the Star Destroyer orbiting Korriban. The ship's captain had laughed when Jaden Korr arrived on the bridge under an armed escort, proclaiming herself a Dark Jedi and master of everyone aboard. He'd laughed right in her face.

Jaden used the Force to close his windpipe, and to hold him up in the air as she did it. It was… _wonderful_ to watch.

The _Ravager_ 's executive officer proved more agreeable to the changes Jaden proposed, as did the rest of the bridge crew.

As for the Stormtrooper and naval crew compliment, word spread quickly among those who hadn't seen Jaden directly. She had executed every one of the thirty men who surrounded her Z-95 in exactly as many seconds. The second wave, the team of Stormtroopers who rushed in moments later, were mostly veterans of the war with the Rebellion. They had seen death before. Death many times, in many ways- but never at the hands of a lightsaber. There had been almost no warriors of the Force left in the galaxy after the Great Jedi Purge at the end of the Clone Wars, and thus almost no chance to see one in action. To see what just one of them could do against thirty trained soldiers armed with blaster rifles in almost no time at all.

Jaden's simple offer, loyalty or death, was quickly accepted by the second group of Stormtroopers, and by all of the flight crew and pilots in nearby in the hangar bay. Thus those troopers escorting Jaden to the bridge was a show, a charade, purely to put the _Ravager_ 's captain off his guard. It meant he would have the chance of lending her his sword if he was smart. Since he wasn't, Jaden still kept the other upside of being 'escorted' to the bridge- a minimal number of dead among the crew that now served her, and nothing more than superficial damage to the ship in the hangar bay.

An entire Star Destroyer was now at her command. Its crew had been addressed over the PA system by the new captain and the Dark Jedi he answered to, and it was made clear that the days of the Disciples of Ragnos were over. Different goals would be set now, different missions laid out. But Jaden was confident that not only would fear of her power keep the crew of the _Ravager_ in line- raised morale would as well. So many Imperial Remnant forces were demoralized and tired, even if they couldn't show it. So many of them were pissed off after years of low-scale, hit-and-run-for-it conflicts that, in the ultimate irony, reminded them all too much of the tactics used by the Rebels. Once these ships and their crews had been unstoppable, the most powerful force in the galaxy. Now the Rebels were the law and they were the criminals.

It was perfectly obvious to anyone with sense that the Imperial Remnant needed a real leader to make people stop using the second half of that name. To just call it "The Empire" again. None of these warlords, despots and dictators who had once knelt humbly before their Emperor would ever be up to the task.

And just the beginnings of Jaden's emerging plan, merely the fire in her eyes and in her voice, told the crew of the _Ravager_ that things were going to change. There was going to be some mixing up of the status quo around here. There was a feeling of excitement in the air as the crewmen talked quietly at their posts, in the mess halls. Word passed that things were going to be different soon enough. Perhaps very different. They'd have _real_ work to do.

 **XX**

It was difficult to believe Jaden had only turned to the Dark Side less than a standard day ago. It seemed like a whole other life.

The shackles that had kept her power in check were gone; the chains that had imprisoned her spirit had fallen away. Jaden mentally sneered at everything she had once thought so noble, everything she had fought for when the Jedi had held her prisoner. Now, things were different. Jaden could do whatever she wanted, go wherever she pleased. She was free.

Uniting the disparate factions of Imperial Remnant forces was vital. If someone didn't do it soon, even the doddering farce that was the New Republic would get around to using its armed forces to grind them into powder. They were sworn to follow a Sith from the beginning of their careers, a user of the Force- an extremely able, gifted, and intelligent user of the Force. Someone cut from that same cloth would be needed to lead them forward again. One people, one Empire, one leader.

Was Jaden a Sith? She wasn't sure about that yet. She knew she was absolutely disinterested in bowing to anyone ever again, but thankfully, the old Sith Order seemed pretty clear about that. The most powerful ruled, and the less powerful followed. Anyone who was more clever or smarter than his superior and successfully usurped his position was in the moral right, and deserved to be in charge. As was any superior who stopped a subordinate from taking his job. In short, while the Sith Empire of the old days- their grand Empire of thousands of years in the past under Darth Revan and Darth Malak- did have some you had to bow before.

But they were the ones who deserved it. Not hide-bound shamans with mystic codes and quaint notions of peace and order. The rulers of the old Sith Empire, the kind of beings resting in the Valley of the Dark Lords on Korriban, had wielded ultimate power. In those days, they had _deserved_ your allegiance.

Jaden was becoming increasingly set on the idea that she would become one of those lords. Female Sith Lords were rare, but far from nonexistent.

To the warlords and dictators of the fallen Empire, however, Jaden Korr would be little more than a child. If she dropped out of hyperspace to join one of their little get-togethers right now with one Star Destroyer and nothing else at her command, she'd be laughed clear out of the system.

Tavion had also commanded more than just a decent-sized legion of conventional troops; she'd led a generous number of Dark Jedi, all loyal to her personally. Force users would have to be sought out and recruited- or rather, 'invited' aboard the _Ravager_ and imprisoned until they saw the error of their ways. Jedi- young, impressionable Jedi- would be ideal targets for kidnapping. The Scepter could bestow Force-user power on non-Force sensitives; a stunningly attractive idea for someone in need of a cadre of loyal followers with which to train and build an army.

The former handful of rooms, quarters set aside for visiting dignitaries and admirals, would have to be overhauled, converted from accommodations for several individuals to just one, with attached slave quarters. Jaden would need furnishings, a luxurious bed… she would live in the best of comfort and grandeur, pursuing her own enjoyment as much as power.

And of course, Jaden would need slaves to live in those smaller quarters attached to her own. Young, human male, aesthetically appealing slaves, to maintain her quarters, attend to her whims and needs, and be used whenever she felt the urge. So many years wasted. In her free time, Jaden would have some catching up to do. But their will would have to be broken, their wish to return to whatever life they had known vanished. The easiest thing to do would be simply to _buy_ slaves; there were certainly worlds where humans were among those on the market, including younger males, yet ones old enough to suit Jaden's wants and needs.

But kidnapping free humans and breaking their will on this ship, turning them _into_ slaves… Jaden _liked_ that idea. Maybe she'd do it herself, as often as she had time.

There was so much to do! Jaden could see the path stretching out before her, the opportunities beckoning, offering to lead her on to the ultimate power. Before long no one would be able to stop her. Her current single vessel would be surrounded by a fleet. Admirals and generals would kneel, pledged to serve her.

And the New Republic, and their vaunted Jedi, would learn just what power was all about.

Later, though. Not now. Jaden was just a beginner at this, as much as she hated to admit it. A newly-deserted Jedi Knight, taking her first glorious steps on the path to the Dark Side and the unlimited power it offered.

 _Unlimited power…_

The words echoed back to Jaden in her mind, whispered through the Force. It was the Dark Side talking, giving her a quiet, gentle, yet irrefutable reminder that she had absolutely done the right thing.

In her recently-ended Jedi days, Jaden had been quite inquisitive. She had studied diligently, researched tirelessly. Her uncommon ability with computers and technology, combined with her skill at acting and simply not being seen, meant she had accessed the Masters'-level archives on several occasions. Sometimes through hacking from the regular library, others through outright walking into the Masters' room.

There were dark places in the galaxy, where few walked. Ancient centers of learning, of knowledge. There were graveyards in space, remains of old battles where usable weapons and powerful artifacts might yet remain. Korriban's Sith Academy was not the only place where the Sith had formally schooled their own young learners, long ago. And the Valley of the Dark Lords on that world was not where all the great Sith Lords of those vanished days were buried.

Jaden felt the deck of the _Ravager_ shudder beneath her, watched stars blur into white lines as the dreadnought leapt forward into light-speed. They would be spending a couple days making random jumps, to ensure anyone trying to tail them would have no direct route to their actual destination. There were many stops to make, of course, but the first was the most important. Jaden needed men, ships, weapons, slaves, Dark Jedi followers… and some of the places she had learned about in her studies, some illicit and some approved by her old Master, might well be the key to getting what she wanted.

The fact was that Jaden was not ready to wage the great war she saw coming. She did not have the ability to visibly display the kind of power that would impress the admirals and generals of the Remnant, convince them to gather with her at a meeting where her tremendous drive, barely-restrained fury, and growing charisma would undoubtedly convince them to serve under her command. She would bide her time. Jaden would withdraw, consolidate, gather weapons, soldiers, servants and resources. She needed somewhere to go, someplace safe where the _Ravager_ could lay in wait while Jaden began the first of many tasks that would lead her to the destiny she had waiting ahead. Not just anywhere would do for something like that.

 _How lucky for me, then_ , Jaden thought with a clever smile as she gazed out through the thick glass of the bridge viewport, _that I know just the place_.

* * *

 **A/N: This story makes references to several other works. The video game** _ **Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic**_ **and its sequel,** _ **Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords**_ **, are both sources of material that is talked about in this story. The Valley of the Dark Lords, the four named great Sith Lords of the past, the Sith Academy- all come from the KOTOR games. Matthew Stover's 2005 novel adaptation of** _ **Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith**_ **is a superb book- simply outstanding in terms of plot, smooth, articulate, flowing descriptions, and character development. It is the source of much of the inspiration I had for this story. Canon text has been borrowed and imitated. Stover did a wonderful job with his novel, and I felt that many comparisons could be found between Anakin Skywalker and Jaden Korr, and Obi-Wan Kenobi and Kyle Katarn, and the close bond and friendly relationship those two Masters and apprentices had with each other.**

 **There is a line in a narrative from Jaden's POV that mentions the words "the joy of hate". That is a reference to that charmingly worthless book of the same title by that paragon of honor and virtue, Greg Gutfield, one of the dozens of talking heads owned and operated by Fox News. The phrase kind of stuck in my head, distasteful as it is, so I decided to use it in this story.**

 **Jennifer Hale did some fine voice acting as the female Jaden Korr in the 2003 video game** _ **Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy**_ **, set 14 years after the Battle of Yavin. She was the voice of another female Jedi Knight, Bastila Shan, in** _ **Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic**_ **\- also from 2003- and did a few lines for Bastila again in its sequel in 2004. Since then she has been the voice of female Commander Shepard in all 3** _ **Mass Effect**_ **games. As irrelevant as it is, I have to say, it would have been pretty hilarious to hear Jennifer Hale say "You big-stupid-jellyfish!" in Bastila's space-Britishy accent.**

 **With Disney having now taken over yet another franchise with the acquisition of the rights to Star Wars, the events on which Fury is based, along with the events of both KOTOR games and in fact the entire Expanded Universe, never actually happened. It's all been declared to be non-canon, rendering unofficial and illegitimate some of the best Star Wars work ever made. I really could care less. As Kanye West so aptly said in his unique and eloquent way, Y'all can't tell me** _ **nothin'**_ **.**


End file.
